


The Light Of Arthur Pendragon

by Stk (Silasthekitty)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur - Freeform, Cute, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Merlin - Freeform, Merthur - Freeform, My First Fanfic, POV Outsider, Poetic, could be seen as platonic or romantic, uhh idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25929451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silasthekitty/pseuds/Stk
Summary: Camelot’s light belonged to the Pendragons, and her shadows belonged to their subjects. That was the abiding rule, but Merlin was never one to follow rules was he?
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 59





	The Light Of Arthur Pendragon

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic on AO3 and the only the second one I’ve ever written. This idea just came to me one night and I couldn’t stop myself from making it a reality. I hope you enjoy! Also I’ve only just watched Merlin this year, like how??

Servants were shadows. No one ever really paid attention to them. Well, no noble or royal that is. They all saw each other. Saw each of their importance. But there was one person who always stood out among them. One person who, if they looked hard enough, they could tell that this boy was something more. That boy was Merlin. Merlin, who had come to Camelot from a village in the middle of nowhere and would somehow become one of the most important people there. The boy who, at first glance, was merely Prince Arthur’s servant. 

Prince Arthur. Now, he was a person that never had nor ever will be a shadow. Arthur has been cast in light from birth, much like any royal. First, as an innocent child. Someone who gave hope to the people of Camelot. Then later as a young man who seemed too much like his father. The king thought that just because he was born with that light upon him, he didn’t need to show that he deserved it. The citizens of Camelot were concerned, to say the least. King Uther had shown them the worst parts of power. And at that point, it seemed as if the heir to the throne would be no different. But then something had changed. Right at the time that Merlin had arrived, and when he stumbled his way into the position of Arthur’s manservant. 

In the beginning, it was the same as it always had been. The prince walked in stride as his servant followed behind, unnoticed. But the change came soon. It came in small enough amounts that for a while no one even noticed, but now if anyone looked back it was obvious. All right from the start. 

The servants were the first ones to put it together of course. They were the people that were always there, witness to almost everything in the castle. Prince Arthur was becoming a new man, piece by piece. The light that he was always in had shifted, but the servants were unable to place exactly how. Their prince no longer tormented the servants he came along. It couldn’t be said that he showed them kindness, but at least now he was no longer cruel to them. Slowly, his attitude toward all of the servants changed. He would speak to them occasionally. Nor often, but it was a start. Finally, the prince was beginning to see them as people instead of objects there to do his bidding. 

After that, it wasn’t hard to see how Arthur was changing. He was changing into the prince Camelot had always hoped he would be. The people started trusting in the crown again, or at least the further crown. Even as just a prince, Arthur was helping them. The light surrounding him now was brighter, in a way that Uther’s never could be. The only question left was what had changed? Who had changed Prince Arthur for the better? But even though they didn’t know it, the answer was right in front of them. Right by the side of the new prince. How could any of them have missed it? It was Merlin. 

Merlin, who waltzed right into Camelot and talked back to the then arrogant and headstrong prince. Who now talked to him like that every day and went unpunished. The man that never left Arthur’s side. And that was something in and of itself wasn’t it? Merlin and Arthur had become a pair that seemed wrong when separated. 

One of them, a servant, a shadow, had been the one to change their prince. He pushed Arthur in the right direction and gave him the confidence that his father never had. But even then the servants hadn’t uncovered the entirety of this monumental event. They all realized this soon. All had the feeling that something was missing. That something had to do with Merlin, of course. The boy had too much greatness in him to be simply a shadow that helped Arthur along the way. The missing piece was there inside him, just barely hidden from all of Camelot. And not long after they began looking for it, the piece came to them. The final piece in all of this.

Merlin was never a shadow.

He teased and argued with Arthur, Prince Arthur. He made Arthur laugh and cry and question everything he had been taught. How could a shadow do that? Arthur saw Merlin, and he always had. Never had there been a time when Merlin slipped past Arthur’s view. Merlin dragged Arthur out of the light that had been given to him. He showed Arthur all the people that had been hidden in his shadow. Showed him that they deserved more, that Arthur owed them more. And Arthur had listened, as he did to Merlin from the start. The prince looked at each one of them, and saw, for the first time, the people of Camelot. The people of his kingdom.

Even though Arthur had been pulled away from the light he was born into, he never lost his glow. And there was the key to it. The change in Arthur’s light that the servants couldn’t understand. Well, they understood now.

Arthur Pendragon’s light was no longer one given to him by birthright. It was a light that he had earned, and it came from the person that showed him how to earn it. 

For Merlin never was and never will be Arthur’s shadow, but the one that bathes him in light and glory.

**Author's Note:**

> It’s probably not the best, but I hope you liked it. I would love to hear your thoughts on it!


End file.
